AU Women Start Midwest Region Rankings At No. 4

The first set of 2019 NCAA Division II Midwest Region women's basketball rankings were released on Wednesday (Feb. 20) afternoon, and Ashland University will start those rankings at No. 4.

At 23-2 overall and 15-2 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Eagles are the No. 10-ranked team in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll, and are in the No. 2 spot in the overall GLIAC standings.

Subsequent regional rankings will be released on Feb. 27 and March 6, and the D-II tournament selection show will be on March 10 at 10 p.m. on NCAA.com.

A 64-team tournament (the top eight teams from each of eight regions), the NCAA Division II tournament will begin on March 15, and the Elite Eight, Final Four and national championship game will be March 26, 27 and 29, respectively, at Alumni Hall on the campus of Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio.

In the Midwest Region, automatic qualifiers come from the GLIAC, Great Lakes Valley Conference and Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The other five teams are chosen as at-large entries. There are 41 teams in the Midwest – 12 in the GLIAC, 14 each in the GLVC and GMAC, and one independent (Oakland City).

Ashland won the NCAA Division II national championship in both 2013 and 2017, and was the national runner-up in both 2012 and 2018. The Eagles have made eight previous D-II postseason appearances, all since 2004, and have an all-time postseason record of 26-6. That .813 winning percentage is the best in D-II history among programs with at least 25 games played.

The Eagles will travel on Thursday (Feb. 21) at 6 p.m. to Northwood (11-4, 8-9), then go to Saginaw Valley State (5-19, 5-12) on Saturday (Feb. 23) at 1 p.m. Ashland already has clinched a home GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal game, set for March 5 at 5:30 p.m., for the eighth consecutive season.